5 Smart Insights For Financial Advisors

What Falling Gold Prices Tell Us About The Stock Market (Advisor Perspectives)
"At a most rudimentary level, equities are residual claims in the capital structure. Gold, on the other hand, expresses confidence in the financial system," writes Mark Ungewitter of Charter Trust Company in Advisor Perspectives. "Confidence in banks, currencies, governments and Wall Street seems necessary for a secular bull market in junior claims – i.e. common stocks – to occur."
"The behavior of gold, then, helps confirm the stock market’s secular trend.  A sustained move in the S&P 500 above its 13-year range, corroborated by a sustained downturn in the dollar price of gold, would suggest the beginning of a new secular bull market."

Advisor Perspectives/Charter Trust Company

Wealth Management Firms Want Advisors To Spend More Time With Clients (Financial Planning)
A new survey by Ernst & Young has found that wealth management firms want advisors to spend more time with their clients. 75% said they have initiatives to do just this.
"Approximately 75% of wealth management firms surveyed plan to invest in mobile tools to increase advisor collaboration and effectiveness. Larger firms said they would use mobile technology to deepen client relationships by providing greater access to information, while smaller firms plan to use mobile applications to introduce new products and services and increase sales.
"Proprietary tools used for data and interfacing with clients will also come under scrutiny."
What The Big Gold Sell-Off Looks Like On A Chart Going Back To 1792 (Macro Tourist)
This chart shows how big the sell-off in gold has been even when taking a historical perspective.

Jim Rogers: Like I Said, I Expect Gold To Go As Low As $1,200
The gold rout continues and gold prices have fallen to $1,352 an ounce. Jim Rogers said the sell-off was being driven by falling gold demand in India, chartists, Cyprus and Bitcoins.
"I have repeatedly babbled about $1200-1300, but that is just because that would be a 30-35% correction which is normal in markets," he told Business Insider. "But I am a hopeless market timer/trader." Rogers said  he expects gold prices to fall further for the "foreseeable future" but expects "gold to eventually go higher over the decade."
Tommy Belesis Charged With Fraud And Intimidation (Finra)
Finra has accused Anastasios Tommy Belesis, CEO of at John Thomas Financial, and four other employees of fraud and intimidation. Finra alleges that John Thomas Financial (JTF) sold shares of America West Resources, Inc. (AWSR) "at the height of the price spike." But of the 15 customer orders received to sell over 1 million shares of America West, JTF just entered one.
"JTF and Belesis prevented the orders from being executed on the same day they were received and some customer orders were executed the following day or days after at prices grossly inferior to those obtained by the firm while other customer orders were not entered or executed at all. AWSR is now in bankruptcy and the customers' investments are virtually worthless.
"In addition, the complaint alleges that JTF and Belesis, through Misiti and Castellano, lied to the firm's registered representatives and customers about the reasons the customer shares could not be sold on Feb. 23, 2012, including that there was a problem with the clearing firm's trading systems, there was insufficient volume on that day to fill the orders, and the shares could not be sold because they were restricted under the Securities Act of 1933."

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US Futures Have Rallied And Turned Positive

After the stock markets closed at 4:00 PM ET today, U.S. futures traded lower.
However, they made a comeback, and now they're positive.

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If You're Shopping For Gold Jewelry, Don't Expect Cheaper Prices Anytime Soon

Gold has hit new lows.
But for Joe Consumer, it'll be mostly shrugs.
We spoke with several jewelers to talk about what impact — if any — plummeting prices would have for their wares, and their subsequent attractiveness for consumers.
They told us few people will notice any difference at jewelry stores for three reasons.
First, if you're buying a piece of jewelry for a specific occasion, a price cut is unlikely to even figure in to your purchasing decision.
"You're going to save $50 on a $4,000 piece of jewelry," Ken Walter, the owner of retailer Diamalux on Long Island, told us. "You're not going to see that much of a difference."
Another jeweler based in New York City who asked not to be identified said the final retail price for something like a gold-studded ring is most determined by the cost of craftsmanship and service than the underlying commodity.
Finally, the entire jewelry industry itself remains in secular decline, according to David Hopkinson, a gold manufacturer out of New Jersey.
"Now a days jewelery doesn't have the place in the world it did 25 years ago," he said. "Electronics seem to be the hot item, everyone wants to have smartphones, $300 or $400 cell phone plans. And gas is up, so all money you want to have going to jewelery is not going there anymore."

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The Yen Is Sliding

With just an hour to go before Asia opens for Tuesday trading, the yen is sliding.
Here's an Intraday look at the yen against the dollar via Bloomberg.

Bloomberg

Here's a longer term look for reference:

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Markets Are In The Red In Asia, Japan Down 1.6%

Markets have just opened in Asia, and they are trading lower.

Japan's Nikkei is down 1.6%.

Korea's Kospi is down 1.0%.

Australia's S&P/ASX is down 0.4%.

The sell-off comes in the wake of disappointing U.S. economic reports and a sharp Monday stock market plunge.

Gold tumbled by as much as 10% today.

Just before 3:00 PM ET, there were at least two explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  At least 22 are reportedly injured and 2 dead.  The story is developing.

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Pope stands firm on reforming "radical feminist" U.S. nuns

Pope Francis has reaffirmed the Vatican's criticism of a body that represents U.S. nuns which the Church said was tainted by "radical" feminism, dashing hopes he might take a softer stand with the sisters.
Francis's predecessor, Benedict, decreed that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group that represents more than 80 percent of the 57,000 Catholic nuns in the United States, must change its ways, a ruling which the Vatican said on Monday still applied.

 

Last year, a Vatican report said the LCWR had "serious doctrinal problems" and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith", criticizing it for taking a soft line on issues such as birth control and homosexuality.
The nuns received wide support among American Catholics, particularly on the liberal wing of the Church, as LCWR leaders travelled around the United States in a bus to defend themselves against the accusations.
On Monday the group's leaders met Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, the new head of the Vatican's doctrinal department, and Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle, who has been assigned by the Vatican to correct the group's perceived failings.
"Archbishop Mueller informed the (LCWR) presidency that he had recently discussed the doctrinal assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed the findings of the assessment and the program of reform, " the Vatican's statement said.
The Vatican reminded the group that it would "remain under the direction of the Holy See," the statement said.
It was the nuns' first meeting with Mueller, who succeeded American Cardinal William Levada as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Levada, who retired last year, oversaw the Vatican's investigation of the U.S. nuns.
A statement from the LCWR said the "conversation was open and frank" and added: "We pray that these conversations may bear fruit for the good of the Church".
In April 2012, the doctrinal department criticized the LCWR for challenging bishops and for being "silent on the right to life," saying it had failed to make the "Biblical view of family life and human sexuality" a central plank of its agenda.
The nuns supported President Barack Obama's healthcare reform, part of which makes insurance coverage of birth control mandatory, while U.S. bishops opposed it.
Many nuns said the Vatican's report misunderstood their intentions and undervalued their work for social justice.
Supporters of the nuns said the women had helped the image of the Church in the United States at a time when it was engulfed in scandal over sexual abuse of minors by priests. They were praised by many fellow Catholics and the media for their work with the poor and sick.
Monday's Vatican statement expressed gratitude for the "great contribution" American Catholic nuns had made in teaching and caring for the sick and poor.

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Afghan electric company struggles to make powerful customers pay

How do you collect a $200,000 electricity bill from an Afghan warlord? Try cutting him off from the grid. Then turn off your cell phone so he can't yell at you.
General Rashid Dostum - one of Afghanistan's most powerful militia leaders - found someone else to reconnect him within hours, said Mirwais Alami, the chief commercial officer at Afghanistan's national power company.
"This will take years to collect," Alami said wryly. "But I am determined. If he doesn't pay, his son will pay."
Although Dostum is still holding out, others grudgingly paid up after the utility started cutting their power connections. The company cut off 1,000 defaulters last year and collected $230 million, a 40 percent increase in the last three years.
The approach is beginning to pay dividends. Three years ago, the company lost more than half its power to theft. Last year, that had fallen to a third. The utility is now breaking even in the capital. It's a small victory in an industry beset by woes.


Afghanistan desperately needs to build an electricity network to generate jobs, develop its trillion-dollar mineral deposits - a process that will take decades - and win support for a government that has delivered few tangible benefits to its citizens.
There has been progress, but it is slow. The national electricity utility, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), was set up in 2008. The next year, donors constructed power lines from neighboring Uzbekistan, which supplies most of Afghanistan's electricity, to the capital of Kabul.
The imports helped boost Afghanistan's power to 1,100 megawatts last year. It's about a quarter of what is needed, but a definite improvement on the 291 MW the country had a decade ago.
"(DABS) has shown striking progress for such a young organisation trying to run a national utility in a country that never had that before," said Roseann Casey, a top USAID official overseeing infrastructure in Afghanistan.
Around 80 percent of Afghan power is imported from neighboring countries, mainly Uzbekistan, so officials have to collect cash from customers if they don't want their country cut off. It's a struggle.
"We face a lot of problems. Some people think they should have free power, so when we try to collect they refuse to pay or get Parliament to call us in and give us problems," said Alami, brandishing letters he has sent to prominent Afghans and the attorney general's office.
FOREIGN HELP
Since DABS can't collect all its cash, foreign donors, led by the United States, Germany and India, are funding expansion. They hope to lay a power line down from Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar by 2016 - right through Taliban country.
Currently DABS in Kandahar is powered by U.S.-supplied diesel generators and U.S.-supplied diesel. The cost of the fuel alone is 400 percent of the revenue DABS collects in Kandahar, according to a report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
The city is one of Afghanistan's "power islands," urban centers electrified by generators, hydro plants or imports from Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan. There's very little power in the countryside.
In total, donors are spending $1.6 billion in current projects for the power sector and have allocated $6.3 billion to improve electrical infrastructure until 2019, according to a recent World Bank report.
It doesn't always go smoothly. Last year the U.S. paid a contractor nearly $13 million for electrical meters to replace old, faulty meters in Kandahar. SIGAR auditors found the equipment stashed in a warehouse months later. DABS says the new meters are faulty.
The installation of a third turbine in Kajaki Dam in southern Helmand province, near Kandahar, should bump up capacity from 33 MW to 51.5 MW, but Kajaki has become another troubled project.
British troops fighting off insurgent attacks hauled the turbine to the dam five years ago but Chinese engineers dropped out after the area was attacked. A U.S. firm frequently criticized by U.S. government auditors was awarded the contract, but then Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he wanted DABS in charge.
Now another round of bidding is underway for the new contract. No one knows when the turbine will be installed.
Hydroelectric dams like Kajaki are the best way for Afghanistan to generate cheap power. It has no money to pay for imported fuel. But the dams are costly to build and infrastructure is vulnerable to attack.
Last month Afghan authorities discovered more than a ton of explosives at Salma Dam, a hydro project being built by Indian engineers in Herat province in the western region of the country and expected to produce 42 MW.
Days later, Taliban fighters in Pakistan killed seven people in an attack that destroyed the biggest power station in northern Khyber Paktunkwa province.
"(The Taliban) don't want people to be educated and to have light. They want them to be jobless, to be hopeless, to fight," said Alami.
Alami is hoping that rural Afghans will be happy enough to get electricity that they will protect new power lines in their area. For him, DABS's biggest challenge is not security, but collecting the cash to maintain the projects that donors build.
Last year DABS spent $12 million on maintenance, with USAID funding maintenance for some power plants.
Donors hope that improved revenue collection will help DABS pay for more costs.
"They will have the revenue they collect and then they can use that revenue for operations and maintenance," said Raouf Zia, a spokesman for the World Bank.
That might help save the power plants from the fate of many other donor-built projects that will have to be shut down as the NATO drawdown in 2014 approaches and aid dwindles.
Afghanistan would have to spend $1 billion a year just to operate and maintain all the infrastructure and buildings that foreign donors have constructed since 2001, the World Bank study found.
This year the country's total collected revenue will be just under $2.5 billion. Only $80 million was allocated for maintenance.

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Tweeting Turkish pianist given suspended sentence for blasphemy

A world-renowned concert pianist was given a suspended jail sentence in Turkey on Monday for insulting religious values on Twitter, a case which has become a cause celebre for Turks alarmed about creeping Islamic conservatism.
Fazil Say, also a leading composer, went on trial in October for blasphemy - a crime that can carry an 18-month sentence - for a series of tweets including one citing a 1,000-year-old poem.
"The fact I've been convicted for an offence I didn't commit is less worrying for me personally than it is for freedom of expression and faith in Turkey," Say said in emailed comments.
His case has stirred up passions about the role religion should play in Turkish public life and highlighted how much has changed since Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's AK Party, which has roots in Islamist politics, swept to power a decade ago.
A judiciary once renowned for defending the secular republic against Islamist influence - notably jailing Erdogan himself for reciting a religious poem - now finds itself in hock to religious conservatives, government opponents say.
"The verdict is unacceptable, and an indicator of the AK Party's vengeful conception of the law," Ilhan Cihaner, a lawmaker from the main opposition CHP party, told Reuters.
Say retweeted a verse in April last year in which 11th-century Persian poet Omar Khayyam mocks pious hypocrisy. It is in the form of questions to believers: "You say rivers of wine flow in heaven, is heaven a tavern to you? You say two houris await each believer there, is heaven a brothel to you?"
In another tweet, he poked fun at a muezzin, someone who makes the Muslim call to prayer. "The muezzin finished the evening prayers in 22 seconds ... Why are you in such hurry? A lover? A raki table?" he asked, referring to the aniseed-flavored spirit popular in Turkey.
The series of more than half a dozen tweets led prosecutors to accuse the 43-year old pianist of "explicitly insulting religious values".
An Istanbul court gave him a 10-month prison sentence but suspended it by five years on condition that he does not commit the same crime again in that period.
"Say did not repeat the words of a poet, but attacked religion and the holy values of religion, completely with his own words," said plaintiff Ali Emre Bukagili, a civil engineer and follower of a prominent Turkish creationist, who has brought a series of such cases against public figures.
DIVIDED OPINION
Say, who has performed with leading orchestras from Tokyo to Berlin, as well as the Israel Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic, denied the charge.
"Fazil Say" became a top trending topic on Twitter immediately after the ruling was announced, with comments reflecting Turks' strong but divided opinions on the role of religion in public life.
"Scandalous and disgraceful," one tweet said of the ruling. "I wouldn't be surprised if a witch hunt for non-believers starts."
Another disagreed: "Finding religious values silly is one thing, provoking people through insults another. The court ruling is not wrong."
Erdogan's AK, its initials spelling out the Turkish word for purity, was elected in 2002 with a landslide. A decade since then of unprecedented prosperity is admired among Western allies keen to portray NATO member Turkey as a beacon of political stability in a troubled region.
But Erdogan's opponents accuse him of posing a threat to the modern, secular republic founded by Kemal Ataturk on the ruins of the Ottoman empire 90 years ago.
The courts have helped silence opposition and emasculate a military which was long the self-appointed guardian of Turkish secularism. It pressured an Islamist-led government from power in 1997 but has since been forced into retreat under AK rule.
Erdogan himself served time in prison in 1998, when military influence still held sway, for reciting a poem that a court ruled was an incitement to religious hatred.
The poem Erdogan had read contained the verses: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers."

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EU says member states failing to crack down on human trafficking

BRUSSELS | Mon Apr 15, 2013 1:40pm EDT

(Reuters) - Thousands of people are falling victim to human traffickers every year in the European Union but most member states have failed to implement tougher new laws agreed by the bloc to address the problem, the European Commission said on Monday.
The new laws, agreed in 2011, impose higher penalties on offenders, make it easier to prosecute across borders within the bloc and give better protection to victims.
Only six countries in the 27-member bloc have implemented the new legislation so far, the Commission said.
Trafficking victims are typically women and they are predominantly forced into sexual slavery, but also hard labor and criminal activity. Some have their organs removed.
Information released by the EU executive on Monday showed the number of identified trafficking victims increased by 18 percent between 2008 and 2010 to about 10,000, although that number likely represents a fraction of all victims.
"What we know is probably only the tip of the iceberg," said Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU commissioner for home affairs.
"I am very disappointed to see that, despite these alarming trends, only a few countries have implemented the anti-trafficking legislation and I urge those who have not yet done so to respect their obligations."
Most of the victims identified were citizens of Romania and Bulgaria, the two poorest members of the bloc. Neither country has implemented the new laws.
EU governments which do not implement common rules can face legal action and fines.
An estimated nearly 21 million people worldwide are victims of human trafficking, according to 2012 statistics from the International Labor Organization.

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New app finds upcoming yoga classes wherever you are

By Natasha Baker

TORONTO | Mon Apr 15, 2013 5:14pm EDT

(Reuters) - From hatha to vinyasa and everything in between, a new app helps yoga lovers find upcoming classes nearby.
Om finders, an iPhone app, detects a user's location and shows yoga classes happening at studios around them, including time and directions.
"The vision was to get more people on planet earth doing yoga," said Nancy Richardson, vice president of digital and brand strategy at Vancouver-based yoga apparel company Lululemon.
Classes can be found at nearly 7,000 studios in 63 countries worldwide and can be filtered by time and type, including hatha, power flow, vinyasa and hot yoga.
"It offers lots of different options to try different classes, types of yoga, and experience different teachers," Richardson said.
Yogis can also keep up with the schedules of their favorite instructors. The app has over 30,000 instructor profiles, which include a schedule of their upcoming classes.
According to Rachel Acheson, vice president of brand and community at Lululemon, the turnover for yoga is high. Although there are approximately 20 million people practicing yoga, about 20 percent drop out every year.
"The new people to yoga every year is substantial," said Acheson. "Finding your teacher is one of the biggest things that drives commitment to the practice."
Users can invite friends to join in on class by sending a text, tweet, email or Facebook message through the app, and keep track of the classes they're headed to.
The app launched Thursday and by Saturday had been downloaded over 18,000 times. It secured the top spot in the Health and Fitness category on Apple's App Store in Canada, and the third spot in the category in the U.S.
It is the first digital experience that the company has developed in-house, and is part of Lululemon's push towards creating hyper-local experiences for consumers.
"That connection with our guests and studio partners is happening on a local level," Richardson said. "Our digital strategy is people-first. Our goal is to build authentic relationships with communities."
Although users can add a class to their schedule, which syncs with the calendar app, it is not yet possible to book or pay for a class within the app.
"We're waiting to see what guests want, and we're not confident they're going to want to book," Richardson responded, adding that the company is actively monitoring feedback.
The company will continue to monitor demand for other platforms, but the company's customers are predominantly iPhone users, according to Richardson.
A similar app called Mindbody Yoga is available for iPhone, created by Mindbody, the company that supplies the data about classes, studios and instructors used in Om Finder.
It allows users to book and pay for classes if the studio supports that capability. It does not, however, provide the social features found in Om Finder, or information about in-store classes.
Another app called GoRecess, available on the web, allows users in the United States to find and book fitness classes in their cities, including yoga, strength-training, dance martial arts and boot camp classes.

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Rihanna Cancels Houston Show Due to Illness

Rihanna Cancels Houston Show Due to Illness

Get well soon, Rihanna! The 25-year-old singer has had to cancel her Diamonds World Tour show in Houston, Texas on Monday, April 15 due to illness.
PHOTOS: Rihanna through the years
Live Nation released a statement on Monday (via The Associated Press) saying Rihanna is unable to perform "as a result of illness." Fans have been told to hang onto their tickets to use at a rescheduled show.
PHOTOS: Rihanna and Chris Brown through the years
Last month, the "Diamonds" singer was forced to cancel two dates after contracting laryngitis. She issued a heartfelt apology to her fans on Twitter, saying, "This is the hardest thing for me to deal with! I feel like we've been waiting on this day forever, and I'm hurt that I let you down. I hate disappointing people that never ever let me down!! I'm so embarrassed about this! Thank you for your prayers and well wishes!"
PHOTOS: Rihanna's best hairstyles
Rihanna has yet to tweet a personal announcement to her fans after canceling her April 15 show. She is next scheduled to perform in Dallas, Texas on April 16.

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Rihanna Cancels Houston Show Due to Illness

Rihanna Cancels Houston Show Due to Illness

Get well soon, Rihanna! The 25-year-old singer has had to cancel her Diamonds World Tour show in Houston, Texas on Monday, April 15 due to illness.
PHOTOS: Rihanna through the years
Live Nation released a statement on Monday (via The Associated Press) saying Rihanna is unable to perform "as a result of illness." Fans have been told to hang onto their tickets to use at a rescheduled show.
PHOTOS: Rihanna and Chris Brown through the years
Last month, the "Diamonds" singer was forced to cancel two dates after contracting laryngitis. She issued a heartfelt apology to her fans on Twitter, saying, "This is the hardest thing for me to deal with! I feel like we've been waiting on this day forever, and I'm hurt that I let you down. I hate disappointing people that never ever let me down!! I'm so embarrassed about this! Thank you for your prayers and well wishes!"
PHOTOS: Rihanna's best hairstyles
Rihanna has yet to tweet a personal announcement to her fans after canceling her April 15 show. She is next scheduled to perform in Dallas, Texas on April 16.

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Lourdes Leon Steps Out With Her ‘Homeland’ Beau Timotheé Chalamet

Lourdes Leon and Timothee Chalamet. (Elder Ordonez/INFDaily.com)Lourdes Leon is not Madonna's little girl anymore.

The 16-year-old was photographed with her 17-year-old boyfriend, Timotheé Chalamet, on Sunday in NYC. Chalamet, who "Homeland" fans will recognize as the actor who plays the vice president's son, Finn, joined Lourdes, her father Carlos Leon, and Leon's fiancé for a family dinner.
Earlier this month, the New York Post reported that the two started dating after meeting as students at the LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in the Big Apple, where she's a junior and he's a senior.
Lourdes, who collaborates with her mom on the Material Girl clothing line, wrote on her blog Monday about some of the pressures -- academic and otherwise -- that she's facing in a new blog post for the Macy's brand of juniors apparel and accessories.

"Because of the start of spring I have developed the classic allergy symptoms that include but are not limited to; itchy eyes, runny nose, clogged ears and all the cute stuff. My most attractive season," wrote Lourdes, who goes by the nickname Lola. "No but in all honesty I get such a good feeling from slowly starting to see the leaves back on the trees and watching the skirts get shorter and shorter in school as spring progresses. For kids that are taking the SAT’s soon we unfortunately WILL NOT see the outdoors the months of April and May and instead will fill our time with fun filled Standardized Testing review books."
She went on to advise readers on how they can best enjoy spring: "Take some Claritin for those who are allergic, shave your legs (or dont #live), get some vitamin D, and enjoy the warm weather!"
(Elder Ordonez/INFDaily.com)
(Elder Ordonez/INFDaily.com)

Lola's father, an actor and personal trainer, revealed in 2011 that he was not looking forward to the day that she began to date.
"I'm dreading it so much, because she's my little girl," he told People. "I want her to stay young forever. I'm already overprotective, so when the time comes, I will be ready to have a talk with the guy she brings through the door. He better be ready, because I'll give him the rundown!"

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Beyoncé Strips Down for Bikini Photo Shoot

Beyoncé is sexy and sizzling as the famous face of H&M's 2013 summer campaign! Known to lend her iconic image to more upscale and sophisticated labels like Tommy Hilfiger and Armani, Queen B seems to be going back in time, sporting teeny-weeny bikinis and modeling for the budget-friendly brand.

Not only did the 31-year-old superstar lend her good looks to the label, but she also collaborated and helped design the pieces! She said in a press release, "I've always like H&M's focus on fun and affordable fashion. I really loved the concept we collaborated on to explore the different emotions of women represented by the four elements – fire, water, earth and wind."
Her body is definitely bootylicious in those teeny bikinis, and she's clearly showing us she's in tiptop shape for her upcoming "Mrs. Carter Show World Tour," which kicks off April 15.
Watch the video to see for yourself how Queen B has yet again proved that she’s a triple threat. For more of the latest entertainment news, tune in to "omg! Insider" on TV tonight.

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Khloe Kardashian Weighs In on Kim’s Pregnancy Weight

"omg! Insider" correspondent Michael Yo sat down with Khloe Kardashian to dish on all those nasty Kardashian headlines. From the media's criticism of Kim's pregnancy pounds to rumors of a troubled romance for Kim and Kanye, Khloe weighed in on it all. “It's just, I think disgusting to talk about a pregnant person's weight,” she explained, adding, "I think it should be off limits." Kim’s younger sis even admitted that she's envious of her sister's fabulous figure saying, "I wish I could look like that when I'm pregnant." Check out the vid to hear more from Khloe and for the full interview, tune in to “omg! Insider” on TV tonight!

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Google rivals may be quizzed on antitrust offer this week

Reuters/Reuters - The Google signage is seen at the company's headquarters in New York January 8, 2013. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Google's rivals could get the chance to ramp up pressure for tougher concessions from the search giant when they are asked, possibly as early as this week, to study its proposals for ending an EU antitrust investigation.

The world's most popular search engine formally submitted a package of concessions to European regulators last week and three people familiar with the matter said on Monday these could be put to rivals this week in a market test.

The proposals are intended to settle an investigation dating from November 2010 and stave off a fine that could be as high as $5 billion if the company were found to have breached EU rules.
"It is possible the market test could start this week," said one of the sources, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.
The spokesman for competition policy at the European Commission, Antoine Colombani, declined to comment. Google spokesman Al Verney said the company continued to work cooperatively with the EU antitrust watchdog.
Complainants against Google include Microsoft, online mapping services, smaller rival search engines across Europe, publishers, online travel sites such as TripAdvisor and Expedia, and price comparison sites.
Neither the Commission nor Google have given details of the proposals. But people familiar with the matter have told Reuters these could include Google labeling its own services to differentiate them from rivals', and also imposing fewer restrictions on advertisers.
Google's opponents have already indicated labeling will not address their concerns.
"Labeling is a non-starter and may be worse than the existing situation," said David Wood, a lawyer for online lobbying group ICOMP, whose members include Microsoft and four other complainants.
Any concessions the regulators accept from Google will be valid for five years in Europe and be monitored by a trustee to ensure compliance, one of the sources said.
"Rival services will be shown more prominently in search results, with three links to three different search engines," this person said.

"Advertising space in Google Shopping will be reserved exclusively for vertical search sites," the person said, referring to specialty search functions focused on specific topics.

Rivals can also mark out sensitive information such as addresses, telephone numbers, opening hours and reviews which they do not want Google to use.

"This is especially for local search sites and product search sites, such as online travel site TripAdvisor and Nextag," the person said.

The Financial Times first reported on the details of Google's offer.

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MetroPCS urges shareholders to vote for amended T-Mobile deal

• Reuters/Reuters - The logo of Deutsche Telekom AG is seen outside the company's headquarter in Bonn May 24, 2012. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

(Reuters) - MetroPCS Communications amended the terms for its proposed merger with Deutsche Telekom unit T-Mobile USA, and asked shareholders to vote for the deal.

The move follows Deutsche Telekom sweetening its offer last Wednesday, bowing to pressure from activists and proxy advisory firms.

MetroPCS's shares, which closed at $11.52 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, were down 2 percent in premarket trading.

The amendment "significantly improves" the value of the proposed combination for shareholders, MetroPCS's board said in a statement.
The new terms include reducing the combined company debt by $3.8 billion to $11.2 billion and lowering the interest rate on the debt by 50 basis points.
As a part of its sweetened offer, Deutsche Telekom has expanded the lock-up period - when it is prohibited from publicly selling shares in the company - by 12 months to 18 months.

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Vodafone to cut 500 jobs in Germany

• Reuters/Reuters - A customer walks past the Vodafone logo in a shopping mall in Prague February 7, 2012. British telecommunication firm Vodafone is expected to post fourth-quarter results on February 9. REUTERS/David …more 

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Vodafone will cut 500 jobs in Germany, the company said on Monday, as the group adjusts to harsher competition and lower fees in Europe's largest economy.

"We have started a two-year program," a spokesman said, confirming reports in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Rheinische Post.

The company aims to shift some operations to Romania and India, as well as considerably reduce starting salaries. Areas like network technology and customer service will be affected.

Vodafone is suffering because of low price offers for smartphones from Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile unit and a regulatory ruling that lowers the fees mobile operators can charge for calls coming from other networks.

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iPhone supplier Japan Display turns to smaller smartphone makers

By Reiji Murai and Mari Saito

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Display Inc, one of two Japanese producers of Apple Inc iPhone screens, wants to boost sales by up to 60 percent by winning more business from smaller makers of phones and tablets to offset lackluster orders from its bigger clients.

Japan Display, the world's No.1 maker of small to mid-size panels, may increase sales to as much as 800 billion yen ($8.10 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 2014 from slightly below 500 billion yen a year earlier, said Shuichi Otsuka, CEO of the unlisted firm.

The company, formed out of a merger of the small panel divisions of Sony Corp, Hitachi Ltd and Toshiba Corp last April, does not publicly identify its clients but is widely known as a key Apple supplier. Apple undershot Wall Street's sales forecast for the third straight quarter in the three months ended December after iPhone sales missed expectations.

"Before the fourth quarter, we thought we were going to have quite a loss... It was quite a drastic cut (in orders)," said Otsuka in an interview on Monday, without identifying Japan Display's customers.
Operating margins came in below 1 percent in the last fiscal year, Otsuka said.
Japan Display cut costs, boosted productivity at its plants and was able to recover from the October-December loss with sales to other smaller clients.
"We must continue to aggressively chase the big clients...but we continue to talk to clients whom we think hold great possibilities," he said.
The company, whose top shareholder is the government with a 70 percent stake, may proceed with its initial public offering at the earliest in fiscal year 2014, or the following year at the latest, Otsuka said.
Japan Display competes with domestic rival Sharp Corp, as well as South Korea's LG Display Co Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple combined own more than 71 percent share of the global smartphone market, with the rest split among firms such as LG Electronics Inc, ZTE Corp and Huawei Technology Co Ltd.

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U.S. agency denies data center to monitor citizens' emails

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency on Monday denied that a $1.2 billion data center it is building in the Utah desert will be used to illegally eavesdrop on or monitor the emails of U.S. citizens.

The secretive agency, which serves the U.S. military and intelligence communities, insisted the state-of-the-art facility's work would be used to support U.S. cybersecurity in accordance with U.S. laws that limit spying on U.S. citizens.
"Many unfounded allegations have been made about the planned activities of the Utah Data Center," the NSA said in a statement, noting that "one of the biggest misconceptions about NSA is that we are unlawfully listening in on, or reading emails of, U.S. citizens. This is simply not the case."
Fox News aired a television report about the 1-million-square-foot (92,903-square-meter) facility on Friday in which former NSA employees raised concerns that the facility would be used to monitor the emails of U.S. citizens.
The NSA said it remained "unwavering" in its respect for U.S. laws and American citizens' civil liberties, and noted that it was subject to broad oversight by all three branches of government.
All wiretapping of U.S. citizens by the NSA requires a warrant from a three-judge court set up under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act passed in 1978.
Former President George W. Bush issued an executive order shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States that authorized the NSA to monitor certain phone calls without obtaining a warrant.
The NSA issued a news release about construction of the massive, Utah data center in January 2011, identifying it as the largest Pentagon facility construction project in the country.
It said the project would result in 5,000 to 10,000 new jobs during the construction phase, with 100 to 200 permanent employees to work there once it was completed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is handling the construction of the facility.
NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said the center was due to be completed in September.
The NSA is the executive agent for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and will be the lead agency at the facility, but the center will also help other agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, in protecting national security networks, according to a NSA news release.

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he Secret Wars: The CIA’s covert mission to combat terrorism

On the Radar

It’s common knowledge that the United States embarked on two wars following September 11: Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, can you name a third?
That’s the premise of Mark Mazzetti’s new book The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth.
“There is war going on that really still is not acknowledged by the U.S., or the details certainly are not acknowledged by the US,” Mark Mazzetti tells on the Radar, referring to the CIA’s use of drones to kill individuals the U.S. government deems terrorists in places like Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.
Mazzetti refers to the CIA’s drone program as the “wars away from the big wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” and the most concentrated theatre of that war is believed to be Pakistan, where just yesterday a suspected US drone strike killed four people in the northwest region of the country--an attack that the Pakistani government has condemned as an unauthorized unilateral action by the United States.
Despite Pakistan's condemnation of yesterday's attack, Mazzetti explains that the Pakistani government gave the U.S. permission to conduct secret strikes in 2004.
“The agreement was that the U.S. could start doing drone strikes in the tribal regions of Pakistan, but on the condition that either Pakistan takes credit for it or nobody talks about it,” Mazzetti says, going on to tell the story of former Pakistani president Perez Musharraf’s approving the use of drones.
“President Musharraf, at the time, said he didn't think it'd be a problem keeping up the ruse because his line was ‘things fall out of the sky all the time in Pakistan’,” Mazzetti recalls.
The drone war in Pakistan has become an open secret over the last several years, Mazzetti says there’s a lot the government has yet to be transparent about.
”There's been a lot of operations that have gone badly that have never been acknowledged,” says the author.
“A lot of this is still being done on the fly in terms of the procedures, the targeting rules, the lists of people, who get marked for death and whether the president has to sign off on them,” Mazzetti says.
To hear more about what Mazzetti uncovered about the CIA’s secret war, including how it has fundamentally altered the agency’s primary focus from spying to manhunting, check out this episode of On the Radar.

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Republicans get into the permanent campaign business

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus (Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES—Since the early days of President Barack Obama's first term, Republicans have disparaged him for engaging in a "permanent campaign," saying he is placing his own personal interests ahead of the nation's. But after Obama won re-election with more than 300 electoral college votes, GOP leaders are starting to think that he might actually be on to something.
National Republican Committee members huddled for a strategy session here last week, where they broke ground on their own rebranding effort, one that will continue whether it's an election year or not.
Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee released a detailed report called The Growth & Opportunity Project that outlined the party's failures in last year's national election and offered 219 recommendations to reform the way the party operates. In March, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus unveiled a plan based on the report that includes overhauling the Republican Party's digital operations and spending $10 million in 2013 alone—an incredible investment in an off-election year—on a nationwide effort to embed hundreds of paid party organizers in states and neighborhoods currently considered unfriendly to Republicans to coordinate outreach programs.
Some might even call this "a permanent campaign."
"I think that's what you have to have to be successful," RNC Co-chair Sharon Day told Yahoo News in a recent interview about the GOP's new plan. "That's what we saw with Obama. He never stopped campaigning. And that's the reality. We know and we've learned that we have to stop doing two-year cycles and one-year election cycles, and try to grow a strong foundation for our party."
At the meeting in Hollywood, party activists from around the country hashed out the details for implementing many of the plan's ideas in their own states. During strategy sessions at the Loew's Hollywood Hotel, state-based GOP activists sat in on crash sessions about the party's big data-sharing program, new fundraising techniques and old-fashioned convention planning. On Thursday, they attended breakout sessions on minority outreach, where they got training from Hispanic, black and Asian media specialists on how to present the Republican message to minority communities.
It's not a short-term strategy. Interviews with several RNC members suggested that they have no expectations they'll convince, say, urban blacks, into becoming hardcore Republicans any time soon. Or even any year soon. But they know that they need to try.
"This isn't a one-year project," Henry Barbour, an RNC committee member from Mississippi who co-authored the GOP report, told Yahoo News. "It's not even a project we're going to finish in 2016. This is a long-term thing that the party has to tackle."
Even the location of the meeting, for example, was no accident. Holding a major Republican get-together in one of the most liberal enclaves in the country is a symbolic part of that same offensive meant to encourage conservatives to spend time in territory they might consider hostile.
But let's be honest: The location had its perks. The hotel hosting the Dennis Haskins. (Getty Images)gathering was just steps from the star-studded Hollywood Walk of Fame, which allowed for plenty of only-in-Hollyweird moments.
Party members got a taste of movie magic their very first night in Tinseltown, when the new blockbuster sci-fi flick "Oblivion" premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre next to the hotel. Unable to resist the opportunity to catch a glimpse of its stars, Tom Cruise and (Obama super PAC mega-donor) Morgan Freeman, some ditched the night's GOP reception to stake out a place near the red carpet.
On Friday, during a dinner at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, RNC members rubbed shoulders with actress Stacey Dash beneath Reagan's Air Force One jet. (For Republicans, Dash is a triple threat: She's a Hollywood actress, an African American and a conservative. Go ahead, try to name another one.)
Whey they returned to Hollywood after the Reagan Library dinner, a high-speech car chase culminated directly in front of the RNC members' hotel. The sound of a low-flying police helicopter filled the night air while a floodlight flashed onto the streets below. Officers on the ground surrounded the car with their guns drawn and arrested the driver while RNC members watched from across the street and snapped photos.
Later that night in Burbank, RNC members were singing karaoke in a bar when actor Dennis Haskins—you know him as "Mr. Belding" from the '90s show "Saved by the Bell"—walked through the door. After he sang on stage and posed for pictures, an RNC guest implored Haskins to recite his television catchphrase for the group. Displaying perhaps the least enthusiasm a human being has ever devoted to completing a sentence out loud, Haskins complied.

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Obama phones Boston mayor, Mass. governor to offer aid after blasts

President Barack Obama on the phone with FBI Director Robert Mueller to receive an update on the explosions that …President Barack Obama telephoned Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to express concern for those wounded in a pair of explosions that ripped through the crowd near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday. Obama also offered Washington's help in the investigation and response to the incident. Boston police said two people were killed and 23 injured, amid news reports that the blasts were bomb attacks.

“Shortly after being notified of the incident around 3 p.m. EDT, the president received a briefing from Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco and other members of his senior White House staff in the Oval Office," a White House official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "The president called Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to express his concern for those who were injured and to make clear that his administration is ready to provide needed support as they respond to the incident.”
Obama received briefings from FBI Director Robert Mueller and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, an aide said.
Vice President Joe Biden, speaking on a conference call with gun control advocates, reacted to television images of blood and panic on the streets of Boston, saying "apparently there has been a bombing."
"I don’t know any of the details," Biden said in a shocked voice. "Our prayers are with those people in Boston who have suffered injury. I don’t know how many there are."
The vice president was reacting solely to the images on television and his comments did not reflect an official finding of the causes of the carnage in Boston, an aide said.
"The president has been notified of the incident in Boston," a White House official said earlier on condition of anonymity. "His administration is in contact with state and local authorities. He directed his administration to provide whatever assistance is necessary in the investigation and response."
At the White House, authorities used yellow police tape to block off Pennsylvania Avenue that runs right outside the White House gates. Secret Service moved to secure the expanded perimeter, while credentialed pass holders were directed to exit through the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building gates, not the usual White House gates.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we have expanded our security perimeter at the White House complex. It is not unusual to expand or contract these security perimeters," U.S. Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said.

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Obama on Boston attacks: Those responsible will feel ‘weight of justice’

President Barack Obama talks about the explosions at the Boston Marathon at the White House, April 15, 2013. (Larry …President Barack Obama vowed Monday to bring the "full weight of justice" down on those behind the apparent bombing attacks in Boston. Obama, speaking at the White House, stopped short of explicitly blaming terrorists for the dramatic blasts that ripped through a crowd near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. But a White House official told reporters the incident would be treated as "an act of terror."

“We still do not know who did this, or why, and people shouldn’t jump to conclusions before we have all the facts," Obama said in brief prepared remarks delivered in the briefing room. "But make no mistake: We will get to the bottom of this. And we will find out who did this, we'll find out why they did this."
"Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice," Obama emphasized.
"The American people will say a prayer for Boston tonight. And Michelle and I send our deepest thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims in the wake of this senseless loss," he said. Officials said the attack left at least two dead and some 80 injured.
Earlier, the president spoke by telephone with Republican House Speaker John Boehner, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
"We reaffirmed that, on days like this, there are no Republicans or Democrats: We are Americans united in concern for our fellow citizens," Obama said.
The president also received briefings on the crisis from FBI Director Robert Mueller and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and telephoned Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to express concern. He also offered Washington's help in the investigation and response to the incident.
“We’re continuing to monitor and respond to the situation as it unfolds, and I’ve directed the full resources of the federal government to help state and local authorities protect our people, increase security around the United States as necessary, and investigate what happened,” Obama said.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters by email that “any event with multiple explosive devices—as this appears to be—is clearly an act of terror, and will be approached as an act of terror.”
“However, we don’t yet know who carried out this attack, and a thorough investigation will have to determine whether it was planned and carried out by a terrorist group, foreign or domestic,” the official said.
Vice President Joe Biden, speaking earlier on a conference call with gun control advocates, reacted to television images of blood and panic on the streets of Boston, saying "apparently there has been a bombing."
"I don’t know any of the details," Biden said in a shocked voice. "Our prayers are with those people in Boston who have suffered injury. I don’t know how many there are."
The vice president was reacting solely to the images on television and his comments did not reflect an official finding of the causes of the carnage in Boston, an aide said.
"The president has been notified of the incident in Boston," a White House official said earlier on condition of anonymity. "His administration is in contact with state and local authorities. He directed his administration to provide whatever assistance is necessary in the investigation and response."
At the White House, authorities used yellow police tape to block off Pennsylvania Avenue that runs right outside the White House gates. Secret Service moved to secure the expanded perimeter, while credentialed pass holders were directed to exit through the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building gates, not the usual White House gates.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we have expanded our security perimeter at the White House complex. It is not unusual to expand or contract these security perimeters," U.S. Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan said.

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Senators unveil bipartisan immigration bill

Reuters/Reuters - The U.S. Capitol dome and U.S. Senate (R) in Washington, August 2, 2011. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

By Richard Cowan and Rachelle Younglai

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday unveiled long-awaited landmark legislation to remove the threat of deportation for millions of illegal immigrants and give them an opportunity to eventually become U.S. citizens.
Under the proposal, undocumented immigrants who came to America before December 31, 2011 and stayed continuously could apply for "provisional" legal status as soon as six months after the bill is signed by the president.
But beyond that, they would have to wait a decade or more without receiving federal benefits, while the government meets a host of tough conditions for securing U.S. borders and enforcing current immigration law.
The bill's sponsors - four Democrats and four Republicans - felt such conditions and enforcement "triggers" to be necessary in order to help it succeed where similar measures have failed, mostly because of opposition to what opponents see as "amnesty" for law-breakers.
Even with the many caveats, the proposal faces months of debate, scores of amendments and potentially significant opposition, particularly in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Indeed, much of the legislation was designed to make the bill palatable to Republicans.
Billions of dollars in new money would be funneled into additional border security to discourage people from avoiding detection as they crossed Mexico's border with the United States.
The measure would focus on tightening porous zones in "high-risk" areas like parts of Arizona, where law enforcement has had less success in sealing the border, in part because of a more difficult terrain.
The bill sets a goal of stopping 90 percent of illegal crossings at the riskiest sections of the southern border with Mexico, either by catching people or forcing them to go back to their country.
The proposal would expand access to both low- and high-skilled labor for American businesses, attempting to keep organized labor happy with provisions designed to keep companies from hiring cheap foreign labor or filling jobs with immigrants when Americans are available.
For the U.S. technology sector, it increases the number of visas available for educated workers filling specialized jobs, though it imposes new pay requirements designed to keep the hiring from depressing wages for U.S. technology workers.
Heavy lobbying, which could complicate passage, is already underway on the visa provisions, with the construction industry, for example, unhappy with a cap placed on the number of foreigners available for construction jobs.
Still, one immigration expert who had been briefed on details of the measure before the outline was provided to reporters called it "a very smart, strategic and forward-looking bill."
For all the bill's emphasis on border control and visas, the "pathway to citizenship" remained at its heart, even though the phrase was not used in the outline made available to reporters.
Within six months from enactment, during which time the Department of Homeland Security would set forth its border security plan, the threat of deportation could end for most illegal immigrants, who would allowed to work legally in the United States after they pay an initial $500 penalty, back taxes and demonstrate that they have not been convicted of serious crime in the United States.
After 10 years - provided the government achieves control of the borders - the immigrants could apply for a "green card" or permanent resident status through an expanded merit-based immigration system.
The green card would not be automatic. A Senate aide said the majority of the 11 million illegal immigrants would likely get a green card via the merit-based visa and the total amount of penalties paid would amount to $2,000.
After that point, it could take an additional three years, after the 10-year wait for a green card, to win U.S. citizenship.
The bill was crafted by four Democratic senators: Charles Schumer of New York, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado; and Republicans John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida.
While Republican concerns have been muted somewhat by the clout demonstrated in the 2012 presidential election by Latino voters, the party is by no means united on immigration. Indeed, Rubio is thought to be jeopardizing any chance of one day being tapped by his party to run for president by supporting immigration reform.
The citizenship provisions have long been a goal of Democrats in Congress as well as of President Barack Obama, who has said he will submit his own immigration reform proposal should he find sufficient fault with the work of Congress.
Prospects for immigration reform were boosted immediately following the November 6, 2012 presidential elections, when Democrats held onto the White House and picked up seats in Congress.
Political analysts widely credited Hispanic Americans for some of the Democrats' success, delivering a wakeup call to Republicans who did not manage to even capture one-third of the Latino vote.
Nonetheless, plenty of Republicans will demand a tough review of the Senate bill, as well as a House bill that also is expected to be unveiled soon. Some Republicans are arguing for a piecemeal approach to immigration reform that Democrats have rejected.

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Amanda Bynes Not Speaking to Parents, Claims to Have Friends

Amanda Bynes (Splash News)It's been a tough few months for Amanda Bynes, who (among other things) has made headlines for wandering dazed and confused around Times Square with a shirt over her head, piercing both her cheeks, and tweeting that she wanted Drake to "murder" her, ahem, lady parts.

But things have seemingly gone from bad to worse in the ex-Nickelodeon star's life, as she tweeted today, "I don't speak to my parents anymore, they don't talk to reporters on my behalf. Don't believe anything you read about me unless I tweet it."

Um. OK. Now is actually the time she should be speaking with her mom and dad.
It seems the 27-year-old's tweet may have come in response to a story, which claims that her parents were "very upset" by remarks Kim Kardashian made recently while serving as a guest host for "Chelsea Lately" earlier in the week.
The E! reality star gave a shout out to Bynes, asking, "Am I the only one that is obsessed with her new makeover?" She went on to say that Bynes "looks amazing" with her "blond hair and those nails."
[Related: Amanda Bynes Hates How She Looks in Paparazzi Photos]
Just to be clear, Bynes isn't mad at Kim. "I love the beautiful Kardashian sisters!" she tweeted.
However, Bynes is mad at her parents for expressing their concern. According to Radar Online's report, a source close to the situation explained, “Amanda's parents hope that people, including Kim, would show empathy towards their daughter at this time. Even if Kim was joking about Amanda's appearance, it really isn't funny. Amanda is in trouble and she doesn't need to be a punchline in a joke."
[Related: Amanda Bynes Goes on Selfie Twitter Photo Marathon]
The source added, "Her parents just wish the media would leave Amanda alone, because it’s only making the situation worse. Amanda is lost and she refuses to get help." What's more, they can't make her. "Her parents are powerless to do anything because she is 27 years of age and there is very little they can do, under the law."
While we certainly empathize with her folks, right now their daughter's "makeover" is just a little too interesting to ignore.
Later on Thursday, Bynes tweeted one final thought. "My friends don't speak on my behalf either. Please don't read anything about me needing help. That offends me. Follow me on twitter!"

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